Coop's Corner: A Quiet Time Around Here

Monday, December 24, 2018

A Quiet Time Around Here

It hasn't actually required a lot of effort....I seem to naturally trend that way if given the chance without outside forces of which there have been few the last number of days. Family time, helping and assisting with said family projects, schedules and family planning (not THAT kind of family planning) so that to the best of our ability we have enough valued time together during the holidays.

Lucky this year, almost everyone will be able to gather here in rural Minnesota though not always at the same time....we do take what we can get. Ben drove home for Christmas....

Lauren's around in here's and there's, working in family time with her busy church concerts in Minneapolis. Katlyn and James will be here later today and Hanna's driving in from Cleveland late tomorrow. Like I said, we'll all be here though not like it once was when our 4 offspring were sleepily gathering around the tree Christmas morning at 5AM waiting for "Santa" to awake after late hours finishing up the wrapping. We wouldn't have it any other way.

Saturday Ben accompanied me to our coffee gathering at Diamond's; turnout good and even festive. The lights blink...randomly. I know because I sat directly across from them.

After coffee, Ben and I stopped at GoMoto to wish Marty and Lissa a Merry Christmas, a quick stop at Harbor Freight (big Two Day SALE!!) and then hustled down to a southern suburb to meet Peg and Lauren for all we could eat sushi.

Sunday afternoon Ben and I brought some Christmas cheer to mom and her sister; a very nice time was had by all.

Over the last few weeks, Eric and I have been advising, critiquing and learning about changes to our machines during this season. Common throughout the year I suppose but in these days of less daylight, our activity intensifies. Eric knows I've been making some changes to the Himalayan specifically and has been after me for an updated photo but garage time, finding that quality garage time, has been at a premium and as such, work out there has slowed. Updates of the full makeover will follow soon. Another big change, unknown to everyone (everyone!) will be made public once riding season 2019 begins.

Inside where it's warm and dry, reading, online learning/listening and 'Tube watching has been happening. I've stumbled on some really fun ones and won't link or I guess even mention them...except for one and I was made aware of that one while the moon was still out early this AM, coffee in hand.

Hopefully at least a few of you old timers will be familiar with the name Greg Lake. I was a huge fan of ELP and one of theirs that sticks with me still is "I Believe In Father Christmas". There was more than a few listenings this morning of Mr. Lake, Mr. Ian Anderson, the choir and some help playing this tune in St. Bride's on Fleet Street in London during an obvious Christmas service. I'd encourage you to look this one up if it tweaks your interest. It will be worth your time.

I'm now off to cut up and marinate our Polynesian Wings for this evening, something we'll all be ready for after this morning's hearty Avocado Toast that Peg enjoys making. Ben and I certainly enjoyed the eating detail of the project.

The dismal state of snow for our White Christmas.....

Merry Christmas to all!!

16 comments:

Speed BumpDecember 24, 2018 at 5:01 PM
I always enjoy your blogs. Great to hear about your travels on your bikes & the history you share from your stops...keep the blogs coming. Here is wishing you & your family a blessed Christmas and happy times together!
Colleen aka Speedy
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motormikeDecember 24, 2018 at 5:03 PM
Nutn zez chick magnet like a Nutcracker :)
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RichardMDecember 24, 2018 at 7:26 PM
Merry Christmas!

Your light snow suggests more riding...
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EricDecember 25, 2018 at 4:59 AM
Keep us in the loop regarding your updates. It will be a long winter here in Wisconsin. Your projects inspire me!
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UnknownDecember 25, 2018 at 5:15 AM
It's good to hear that your family will make it home for the holiday, Merry Christmas
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Paul HDecember 25, 2018 at 10:03 AM
Merry Christmas Doug. Good to see the Hack increase its
pie share nudging out the crusier. Speaking of pie, looking forward to coming back n riding with you guys in 2019!
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TroubadourDecember 25, 2018 at 1:22 PM
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! I'm anxious for the upcoming riding season and for the great reveal of the makeover.
BTW, you might not want to mention Harbor Freight sales on your blog as I squirreled and nearly forgot to come back to finish reading your post. I now have several tabs open searching for holiday sales.
Here's to 2019 and more riding!
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redlegsridesDecember 25, 2018 at 7:47 PM
Merry Christmas Doug, to you and yours!
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)